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Sunday Inspiration: The Unforced Error

In chess, an unforced error or blunder is a very bad move. It is usually caused by some tactical oversight, whether from time trouble, overconfidence or carelessness. While a blunder may seem like a stroke of luck for the opposing player, some chess players give their opponent plenty of opportunities to blunder.

Why Do People make wrong moves?
Reason in most cases is overconfidence other times, vain glory…
That action is made just to prove something that nobody asked then you lose.

The devil tried to make Jesus do the same in the wilderness when he was being tempted. The devil needed to create a situation where God had to intervene unnecessarily – from turning stone to bread to bowing down to worship evil (give up who you are), which was the same temptation Esau had, just as Adam, who was tempted with food and he fell. It’s not the enemy’s activity that kills you; vain glory is one of man’s greatest undoing, it has destroyed so many lives.

Back in school, I had a friend who inspired me more than any other person, to study the deeper intricacies of the game of chess.
He was the smartest guy I had ever met.
He was a perfect example of an intellectual Chess player.
He was the best player on the school team at that time.
He would study chess books most of the time and annotate his games with keen precision.
He had the potential to become a national champion- he was that good…
I always thought he was probably going to be the first Grandmaster of chess in Nigeria…
But he had a flaw…
An over bloated ego…

If he decided that his opponent did not respect the game, him or he did not like the way the opponent carried himself – if he decided for whatever reason that the opponent was not worthy to last more than a few moves on the board, a dark rage would come over him…
This rage became the driver…
All his strategy and patience would vanish and he would begin to obsess about total destruction..

Wanting to beat his opponent with the fewest number of moves to prove his superior understanding of the game. Oblivious, whilst trying to “destroy” his opponent, he would forget to win.
He would play bold moves designed to intimidate his opponent, showing that the opponent was not as smart as he is.

He would leave lots of void in his defence, whilst attacking his opponent blindly.
He lost most of his games subsequently…
He lost to players who were far inferior in strength, because he gloried in his own superior knowledge of the game.
And that was his undoing.

That’s not how you win at chess…
He knew better
But unfortunately, he could not do better
He allowed his anger and his distaste for people, whom he assumed did not represent the nobility of the game properly, cloud his judgement.
He played the player
And forgot to play the game.

Jesus is the ultimate chess player – One who had no flaws.
He had a more superior understanding of the position more than Satan, and yet he chose humility.
His end game was love and He was here to save us from the limitations of sin, only because he had loved us first.
A fleeting moment of vain glory could not compromise that.
He had nothing to prove to any man
Because he owned everything – He played the game, not the player.
He conquered death and now He reigns forever!